Bug

Thanks Dru. Got it covered. I've been eating Glycosamine and MSM. That shit gives me gas in monumental proportions. rbw1966, We are doing the whole rib from the NE Fork. Then returning via the WB. Since we are leaving May 17, I am a little concerned about scavanging. How many people are going to be coming down by June 1? If we have good weather we might beat the crowds going down. Nelly, Good tip. I once spent three days eating glacier lilies and ptarmigan for just that reason. Since there are none of the above on Denali, I would have to eat climbers. Now there is cause for monumental gas.

quote: Originally posted by Dru: you wanna melt spectra after you cut it? HOTKNIFE!! get the blowtorch out, get the knives redhot apply and SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. you dont wanna sniff that smoke though. UH HUH. You have been sniffin smoke haven't you? Are you one of those hippie-ass guys like SpecialEd?

The water knot is fine. Tape the tails if you want. I've used mostly tied slings and draws for a bug's life. Cheap, effective, and versitile for those vertical bushwhacks in the PacNW. I carry a few sewn supertape runners but I am not as rich as SpecialEd. That guy is rollin in the dough! If he wants it he just goes out and buys it.

I've never boarded but that is probably YOUR best bet with the split decision setup. Otherwise, AT is the way to go for the cross over to climbing. My favorite way to ski is tele but I ski AT for transportation to and from the climb. Definately start with very short wide skiis. 140 sounds right. You can pick up a pair for $10 or less. The spring rummage sales have just begun. I have skied for 35 years. Everything from wilderness touring to extreme skiing on cliffs. Re-read everything on these posts. It is all really good information. It just depends on your budget and your preference. Then get out there and crank.

What I'm sweating about is how much shit I'm gonna have on my feeble back. We are going straight up the Rib with no double carries. We are thinking about dragging a sled to the base of the couliour but that only eats up two or three days of food and gas depending on how much we want to acclimatize. We are chopping everything that isn't needed to sustain life at subzero, arctic, atlitudes. Thanks for the info guys! I'll let you know how it turns out.

The lemon doesn't fit.

I didn't like the cups thing either but I borrowed it from a Denali site. I've heard that most groups bring gas down with them even when they stay as long as they can. The Geyser thing sounds fun. When I was on a fire crew we used to set a molotav coctail at the base of a medium size dried out tree and shoot it. WHOOOOF! Up like a match.

Cool! Wear two avalungs and a lemon up my ass. Got it. Thanks Timmy and savaiusini for the advice!

For summer climbing I use a 4500 sack for 2. It is tight packing and sacrifices must be made but the nice light weight makes a big difference all around - approach, hauling, yes, sometimes jumaring, decending. It translates to speed vs comfort. I find enough comfort with a light bag, a coat and some food & water. I also have 1/8" insulite pads that I can fold to cover sharp objects. The bigger the bag, the more you can take.

Too technical Ray. How about "Math for the Clinically Insane"? Nice pic. I missed one.

Do you think if I wore two avalungs I would be OK?

Just so we can keep it straight out there, how many different ways can you do the west face of DragonTail by mixing routes? No fair counting unidentified pitches. My guess is there are about 100 separate pitches on the face. Maybe 1/8 of them actually cross another route which makes it 12.5 potential crossovers or 156 different routes. Now let's name them correctly...........................

3 of us are going up the West Rib May 17. We are planning on taking .9 cups of gas per person per day. We will use MSR XGK stoves. We plan to summit in 13 days if we are lucky with the weather. We will take 3 gallons up with us which gives us 1 extra gallon for storm support. We will be up there in late may to early June so we probably can't count on getting left over gas from people coming down. Any comments? Any flaws in our reasoning? Thanks for any input. Bug

The avalanche danger for Hood on http://www.seawfo.noaa.gov/products/SABSEA is looking bad. Anyone been up there? I want to go do the Cooper Spur Saturday.

War is Hell.

Beware the new breed of climber. On the first trip to the climbing shop he buys a drill. He means well but drills wantonly or means ill and drills maliciously. Not that many are like that but it does not take many to screw things up. There are high quality places in Washington that have been bolted for decades but see very little traffic even now. These should be held as secret stashes. Not to be shared without careful consideration. Some places such as Vantage have become sacrificial test pieces. Just how far can reason be pressed? What kind of action is effective? It remains to be seen. Sad as it is, humans tend to deficate in their own cages and turn on each other quickly.

Too many humans. Too small of a cage. Soon we bugs will party. Climbers are of no consequence. They are far outnumbered by practitioners of far more common sports and activities. This is a microcosmic study on all levels. Somebody needed a thesis.

I was a bug without roots. Any pile of garbage would do between climbing trips. I climbed in the Beartooths and Absarokas, the Gallatin, the Bitterroots and others. It was nice out there because there wasn't a crowd of people shring your wilderness experience with you. Especially if you got away from the horse trails. Of course, then there wasn't much to eat but I won't take you there. You are too new. Welcome. Watch your back.

"Just thought I'd ad a note here. If anyone could bring some slings/rings or chain/coldshuts next time they go to vantage that would be cool. I added hangers,slings,rings to the rap station above steel grill/bobs your uncle(the only rap station in the area) and some confused individual took the slings and rings off. I'm not going to replace them again, but is they were replaced by someone, it would make things a lot more convenient in that area. Also, the same needs to be done to the party in your pants area (someone took my rings/slings there too. Thanks, Charlie" I will crawl through their shit and walk on their food. [ 03-30-2002: Message edited by: Bug ] [ 03-30-2002: Message edited by: Bug ]

Anna darling! Take me back to Montana with you. Get me out of here before I go insane. Don't make me post on this board again. OK. I'm better now. I fought fires in MT for a few years. Welcome to the rain. The climbing here is varied to say the least. As fellow MT's, let me give you some good advice, Get into the Enchantments out of Leavenworth. Just do it. Give us a trip report when you return.

quote: Originally posted by Ropegun2002: If any of you boi's could actually climb all of this would be funny. Stop strokin the squirrel yourself. Chalk doesn't stick to that stuff and that's why all you sport climbers can't break the 5.10 barrier on real climbs.

If I fell off a rock and died, Zee's policy would be what I would want. If I fall off a rock and can still talk, I will say that a giant child picked me up and tortured me for no apparent reason. I would NEVER say I purposely did something that 95% of all Americans consider to be very dangerous. Insurance companies run test cases occaissionally. The law is not a static thing. If the insurance industry can tweak a little bit here and a little bit there, pretty soon, they are paying out less. One way they test the law is to take a case to court. Let's say you break your ass at Index and report the whole climbing story complete with how the guy who gave you the beta described being really gripped at the point from which you fell. You file your claim and your insurance company denies it. You now have the option of giving up or hiring some pond scum lawer who will take your case pro bono. He will assess how often the insurance industry and your company in particular are willing to cough up a little more money or fight you in court. If they fight you in court and you lose, you do not have to pay the pro bono but you do have court costs, filing fees etc which add up very fast and would easily out price a broken leg. Meanwhile the insurance industry has documented a set of reasons for which they are not liable for climbers who break their asses at Index. And so it goes........... If you get hurt, do all climbers a favor, say you fell down the stairs or something. Do not admit to climbing!

Friends who try to sue me have poor taste.

In Alaska a few years back, we caught a guy picking our crab pots. Guns were drawn. No shots fired. When he returned to Homer about a month later, a crowd gathered. The crowd wandered to the end of a cannery unloading pier. Apparently, the pot picker was unable to get through the crowd because he ended up in the cccold water 15 feet below. He was also discouraged from removing himself from the ccccold water until he had swam across the marina in his clothes. A great deal of money changed hands when he actually survived. Last I heard, he had not been back to Homer since. In saudi Arabia, they publicly chop off a hand if you are caught stealing. The crime rate is almost not measurable. I could continue with many examples of what works and what doesn't. Suffice it to say, "No mercy is the best detterrent". The legal system favors the criminal in thefts from automobiles. They keep all profits and rarely spend more than a weekend in jail. At Index, Smith Rock, etc., if you can act anonimously, be harsh. Inflict lasting pain. Leave visible scars. Don't hesitate. Don't feel guilty.

Oh yeah. Hunters and mountain lions are the most effective form of goat control. Hunting them is not exactly a sport though. Unless you consider hunting cows a sport. MMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! POW! MMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! POW! Damn. Got my limit already.